


one hundred opening lives

by duckiesandlemons



Series: Spirit AU [4]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Other, Spirit AU, more tags to be added as this progresses, the kisekis are youkai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-17
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 06:34:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1972566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duckiesandlemons/pseuds/duckiesandlemons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A human, a connector, a seer, maybe a healer--Kuroko Tetsuya's name is hidden by labels and wings.</p><p>At least it is no longer "Ghost Boy."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the moon's shadow (prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> Quietly looks out oh hi uhm guess who finally started working on this. Yeah--
> 
> The title is taken from a Chiyo-ni haiku:
> 
> From the mind  
> Of a single, long vine  
> One hundred opening lives
> 
> Notes on spirits at the end of the chapter.

_the moon's shadow_  
_also pauses -_  
_cherry blossom dawn_

_\--Chiyo-Ni_

“Do you twist the tengu’s arm behind his back, or have you offered yourself as food?  Are you to be flayed and your skin worn, or are you to be left behind to rot a soulless husk?”

“Neither.”

“Then did you trick the tengu into servitude?  Perhaps stolen his cloak like the boy with the bamboo?”

“I did not.”

“…hmph, a human like you is no fun at all.  Play I will somewhere else, but—“

Things like this are not new.

“—maybe I shall partake of you instead like I intended!”

They are never new.  He has dealt with them as long as he can remember.  From a woman wreathed in blue flames to a man with wings dark as the twilight—he has seen them.  He doesn’t even flinch as the spirit lunges, drawn clothes and gaping mouth.

This is not new.

“Someone trying to muscle in on what I claimed, eh?”

He just closes his eyes.

This isn’t new at all.

The screech in his ears, the crunch of bone and the sound of something hitting the ground.  He’s used to all of this.  Every noise, every confrontation it is the same just with a different face every time.  Sometimes the spirit is nice, sometimes it isn’t.

“Tetsu, I’m going to eat this spirit, okay?”

“Lord Daiki, don’t—“

“…get lost and don’t let me see you again.”

When he opens his eyes again, the spirit is already dragging itself away with a limp.  “It’s going to come back,” a rustle of wings.  “Tetsu, it’s going to come back and try and eat you again.”

“I don’t think it will.  Not after that scare you gave it.”

“Feh.”

This is not groundbreaking.

He doesn’t even flinch that much anymore when his “savior” throws a limb off somewhere in the bushes.  That, too, writhes and wriggles off somewhere.  “I am pretty great, aren’t I?” and then he is looking into the red mask of a tengu.  “One of the bests on my mountain—till you came along, of course, so I guess that mountain isn’t mine anymore.”

“That mountain was never yours to begin with.”

“So what if the old crow up there refused to acknowledge me…still my mountain.”

The mask comes off and the face underneath doesn’t even look ashamed of the blatant narcissism coming out of its mouth. 

This isn’t an epiphany or anything like that.

The tengu grins, cocky and sure, “So, I am gonna get to eat one of these guys eventually.  If I’m hungry enough I’m gonna eat you instead.”

“But you won’t,” he walks past the tengu, “or more like you can’t.”

“I totally can.”

“Not according to the promise you made to me on the mountain.”

“Urk.  I thought you’d forgotten that…”

“A promise like that is hard to forget when you were the one who made it.”

And he remembers because, like before, this is nothing new.

This is nothing extraordinary.

He remembers, back in the mountains when he had been young and scared and lost, how the tengu came to him with wings spread and stared down at him.

_“Human why are you here?”_

_“I-I’m lost.”_

_“Do you wish to be eaten?_ ”

“No, no, not at all,” he whispers.  They’re words engraved in his memory after all.

“Did ya say something, Tetsu?” the tengu is in front of him now, walking with hands behind its head.

“Nothing.”

They’re words that he’ll keep close to his heart.  They’re words that he will cherish, for on that mountain his life had changed.

_“Then human, if you are lost I will guide you back home.  If you need it, I will protect you.  What is your name?”_

For him, this is nothing new.

To see, to hear, to speak—it has always been with him.

 _“Kuroko Tetsuya_. _”_

He can just see a bit more than others can.

 

\----

**General Notes:**

-The spirit that attacks Kuroko at the beginning is a random spirit. Just nondescript.

-Aomine is a tengu, specifically a kotengu even though his powers are on par with a daitengu. The only reason Aomine has not ascended to daitengu status is that he had not been a priest in his previous life and therefore could not become one. Despite his claims that he owned the mountain he originally had been on, the daitengu there had not given up his seat. Tengu are also born when people who also practice Buddhism are too prideful. So they are faithful enough to not be sent to hell, but they are still filled with enough faults to be turned into a demon.

-The folklore mentioned by the spirit in the beginning is "The Tengu's Magic Cloak" which talks about how a boy tricked a tengu into giving up his magic cloak of invisibility with a plain piece of bamboo that he claimed could see distant places when it could not.


	2. the scarlet leaves of autumn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroko, a spirit, kindness, and the feelings of friendship and abandonment.
> 
> A typical day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After too long do I bring out chapter two. :'> I apologize for the wait, but please enjoy!

_"the scarlet leaves of autumn_  
_pale before the sight_  
 _of waving green rice fields"_

_\--Kikusha-ni_

_“And what honor do I have today for the esteemed tengu of the mountain to come and visit me?”_

_She sounds all too amused, even as she picks up the sake bottle and pours him a cup.  She doesn’t take things too seriously, he thinks, and brings the cup to his mouth.  One sip, pause, wing flick—repeat again until he’s done.  Usually he’s more for words, usually he’s more for loud actions that easily convey what he’s feeling._

_“…you’re not too worried?” he asks, holding his cup back out._

_“There is nothing to be worried about,” she tells him._

_He thinks that is not the truth.  He opens his mouth to speak again, “Then—“_

Kuroko opens his eyes. 

Dreams like that are not rare anymore.  They’re painfully common now, and he always wakes up with words wanting to leave his mouth.  Sometimes he wakes up with visions of a dark room in a home with the sound of cicadas in his ears.  Other times he awakes with the fleeting glimpses of a red sky and the tinge of smoke in his nose. 

He lifts himself up from his futon to stare where Daiki slept, thoughts of his dreams pushed to the wayside.  The tengu is propped against the wall, arms crossed, and nodding off.  Or asleep, possibly.  Kuroko is never quite sure if spirits such as Daiki even need to sleep or if that is something so indulgently human Daiki never got rid of. Still…

Summer must have been an important time in his life, Kuroko guesses.  These dreams always seem to be more like memories from Daiki’s past.  Hazy pictures of a town in the muddled heat of summer.  Clothing from years long since, the pleasant smile and tone of a woman Kuroko doesn’t know.  Kuroko wonders if they are being passed on to him, somehow.  That perhaps their friendship, from first meeting to now, had forged some sort of mind link that let their thoughts bleed into each other when their guard is down?

Kuroko snorts at that.  If that were the case he’d be getting more than just dreams of Daiki’s memories.  Though Daiki is a powerful tengu, his intelligence is still something left up to debate.  Most likely Daiki thought of Kuroko as a presence not strong enough to do much harm, letting barriers down because Kuroko is so weak he _could_.  That irritates Kuroko some, and he goes to viciously prod Daiki awake.

“Lord Daiki,” Kuroko says as he jabs at one of Daiki’s exposed sides, “wake up, your snoring is obnoxious.”

Daiki startles awake, but he doesn’t seem to be affected much by Kuroko’s jab.  Then again it’ll take more than just a simple human’s finger to cause harm to the tengu.  “Mm, what—“ Daiki shakes his head, “Tetsu it’s too early.”

“Not really,” Kuroko is already moving to get ready for the day.  He can smell breakfast cooking from the kitchen, and the sound of his mother talking to his grandmother.  Daiki yawns and stretches, wings spreading out.

“Early for me,” and the tengu is settling back against the wall.  “I’m gonna get some more shut eye before I absolutely have to go anywhere.”  Typical, Kuroko thinks.  Absolutely typical and he shakes his head.

“Lord Daiki, I’ll eat your portion of breakfast.”

That gets Daiki up and the tengu is shuffling Kuroko off to the bathroom.

“C’mon Tetsu, rise and shine, don’t want to miss the most important meal of the day!  Your mom cooks a mean breakfast.  Fit for the gods, fit for me.”

Kuroko cracks a tiny smile at the sudden change in attitude but leaves it at that.  After all, if Daiki still hasn’t realized Kuroko simply can’t stomach that much food by this point then it’s just another trick Kuroko can keep using.  It’s not that Daiki is unmotivated, he just needs a strong motivator.  Although it does make Kuroko think about those dreams.

What had Daiki been like way back when, before he met Kuroko?

Yokai, like humans, change.  While it is slow, barely noticeable, Kuroko has heard stories and seen proof with his eyes.  As years pass, as seasons change, as people move on with their lives, as do yokai.  Slow going, it is there, and Kuroko knows that the Daiki he talks to now is nothing like the Daiki in his dreams.  The Daiki he knows is loud, brash, almost narcissistic.  The Daiki in his dreams is quiet, reserved, but cocky and so sure of himself—all seen in slight motions and gestures.

Kuroko wonders what Daiki had been like way back when, with that woman, and with that sake cup on a humid summer’s eve. 

“Don’t slow down, geeze,” and Daiki’s already guided him to the bathroom.

“I wasn’t,” Kuroko answers calmly as he starts getting ready for the day.  “You’re just too impatient.”

Daiki scoffs, “Ha, not someone as old as me.  Too many years to practice forging my patience.”

Kuroko wants to respond to that with some jab, but all he can do with his toothbrush in his mouth is raise one eyebrow to question Daiki’s words.  Daiki doesn’t even take offense to that, just clapping Kuroko on the shoulder and announcing he’s going to go down and bug his mom for food ah the wonders of being the family pet crow.  Kuroko also wants to say that having pet crows isn’t normal, but his family hasn’t said anything.  A lot about Kuroko’s current situation isn’t normal, but it’s still better than before.  When he had been young and alone, staring bullies down and hiding, lost in the trees of the mountain.  That’s in the past now, however.

He shouldn’t have to worry much about it now.

Kuroko finishes up brushing his teeth, rinsing his mouth out and changing into his clothes.  He also turns his alarm off, considering he got up before it could even go off.  That being done he makes his way downstairs, where his food has already been set out.  His father is listening to some program on the radio, his mother is still at the stove, and his grandmother is already feeding Daiki scraps.  The tengu, having taken on his crow form, is all too pleased and is scarfing the food down faster than his grandmother can grab.  “He’s going to get fat if you keep feeding him like that,” Kuroko says when he sits down. 

His grandmother laughs, a slow, methodical one, as she just feeds Daiki again, “Nonsense, not a crow like this one.”

She leaves it at that, though it doesn’t stop Kuroko from giving her an odd look.  Daiki thinks nothing of it, looking proud of himself and continuing to accept the food offered to him.

“You’ll be hanging out with Kagami-kun and Ogiwara-kun today, right?” his mother asks.  She places his meal in front of him, and goes to make her own plate. 

“That’s right.”

“Be mindful of the weather today,” his dad adds in.  “It’s supposed to be hot.  You’ve never done well in the heat.”

“I will be,” as long as Kagami and Ogiwara don’t try to drag him off on some extended venture at the court by the river bed.  It’s a crude patch of dirt with a basketball hoop just placed there, no lines to mark a court and the ground not ideal.  It’s their favorite place to hang out, though.  It’s a place that has charm to it. 

Kuroko’s dad smiles at him, “I know.”

Breakfast goes on peacefully, with Kuroko finishing up and Daiki happily gobbling down the food Kuroko left behind.  His grandmother sees him out the door with a pat on the back, a bento in his hand.  Daiki’s already taken flight over head, disappearing in the sky most likely to return back in his regular form when Kuroko is further away from the house.  Despite the dreams, despite the thoughts left behind, his mornings have routine now.  Kuroko likes this routine.

It makes him feel normal.

He already has his phone out to text Ogiwara that he’s on his way, make sure Kagami doesn’t eat everything and could they possibly stop by the bookstore in town afterwards?  Things like this, too, make Kuroko happy.  Friends that he thought he would never have, considering his abilities.  His powers, for lack of a better word.  Another chance he thought he would never get.

_“You’re the Ghost Boy!  The Ghost Boy!  That makes you scary!  You say you see things when there’s nothing, and we can’t even see you!  Are you sure it’s not you who’s the ghost?”_

Kuroko pushes those thoughts to the back of his head.  He had been young then, and now is different. 

Where he is now is infinitely better compared to back then.  He wouldn’t want to change it for anything.  Kuroko closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, smells the air of the country road, and relaxes.  Here, he is far, far away from the troubles that plagued him.  Here, with Daiki, he has made a home for himself and a new life different from back then.  Kuroko is glad.  He really—

“ _Help me…_ ”

He stops.

“ _Please, someone, help me…_ ”

Kuroko looks around for the source of the voice.  It sounds pained.  He can’t just ignore it. 

“ _Please…_ ”

Kuroko starts walking again, still looking best he can.  There’s no one on the side of the road, or near the river, so perhaps near the brush?  Perhaps Daiki could help him look?  But no, the tengu hasn’t made his appearance yet.  Perhaps he had been distracted by something above, or thought Kuroko might have dropped something.  Still.

“ _Help me…please…_ ”

“Where are you?” he answers back.  “Are you hiding?  If so, please tell me—ah!”

Something latches on to his foot.  It’s a blur that moves too fast, and Kuroko finds himself falling flat on his butt.  He winces, but opens one eye to get a good look at what grabbed him.  He stiffens, breath shortening, at the creature that greets his gaze.  Gaunt, sickly, he can see the bones through the skin.  The person shifts, lifting their body up, and gaze at him with eyes sunk deep in their skull.  “ _Help me, please_ ,” the person rasps out.  Kuroko trembles as the person crawls up his legs.  “ _Please_ ,” they whisper again.  “ _Help me—_ “

“Oi, Tetsu!”

A gust of wind picks up, forcing Kuroko to close his eyes.  He hears an inhuman shriek, the weigh on his legs disappearing.  When he opens his eyes the person had thrown themselves off of him, hunched over on the road, and Daiki stood protectively in front of him.  “Lord Daiki,” Kuroko gets out, breathless.  “What is it?”

“That spirit smells of no good,” Daiki growls out.  “Watch yourself.”

“Spirit?”

It makes another pitiful cry, “ _Heeeeelp, please…_ ”

Something in Kuroko aches.  He stands up, wiping his pants off, and reaches for the bento his grandmother had given him on his way out.  Daiki seems to notice his movement, turning around to stop him.

“Tetsu, come on—“

“That spirit’s asking for help, Lord Daiki!” Kuroko stares the tengu down.  Daiki bristles, wings flaring, but eventually he relaxes.

“Tch, like I can stop you now,” the tengu backs off.  “Don’t regret it.”

Kuroko smiles at him.

The spirit had been watching them cautiously, not sure how to react with their arguing.  It perks up when Kuroko approaches, eagerly reaching out when he offers over the opened bento.  The food is snatched out of his hands quick, the spirit gorging itself.  It looks up at Kuroko with wide eyes.  “ _Thank you_ ,” it slurs out.  “ _I won’t…forget you._ ”

“Don’t worry about it.”

His phone goes off then.  A sharp noise that startles the spirit, the bento falling to the ground as it darts back off into the bushes lining the side of the road that led up to the forest.  Daiki had been watching it all with a clinical gaze, looking back down at the ruined bento.  “Leave it,” Daiki says.

“Grandmother will ask—“

“Just say it broke somehow and you threw it away.”

“Lord Daiki, a spirit just touched it.”

Daiki starts attempting to guide Kuroko away from the bento, “We don’t know what kind of spirit.  Just because it didn’t _try_ to kill you doesn’t mean it’s all good and pure.” 

Kuroko tries to say something else.  Something more along the lines of “but there was you,” or “you tried to eat me once and now look where we are.” Those kinds of arguments would not hold up well with the tengu, however.  They might irritate him more than anything. 

“Just trust me, Tetsu,” Daiki says.

“…I will.”

Though he’s not sure exactly why Daiki’s being so cautious.

It’s not the first time they’ve tangled with spirits, and Daiki usually deals with any threat that makes itself known fast.  Any spirit that doesn’t try to harm Kuroko?  Given a grace period of five minutes, at the most.  This one didn’t even get that.  Mysteries aside, Kuroko starts picking up his pace to get to where he’s to meet Kagami and Ogiwara at on time.  He wouldn’t say he wasted time, however, helping out that spirit.  He hopes that it will be able to gather enough strength from that to go find food on its own instead of pawing at the road side for food from humans who wouldn’t even be able to see it.

It doesn’t take him too long to arrive, waving at Ogiwara and Kagami.  Though they don’t notice him at first, both too engrossed in arguing about something they’re reading.

“I’m telling you, even with your stomach, impossible!” Ogiwara elbows Kagami in the side.  “Three of them, Kagami, _three_.”

“I can do it!  It’s nothing!”

“Just because you won that eating contest last—“

“Excuse me.”

Both jump, turning to look at Kuroko.  Ogiwara immediately breaks out into a grin, though Kagami looks a bit spooked.  “Hey there, Kuroko!” he greets.  “Didn’t catch you there!  How long have you been here?”

“I’ve always been here,” Kuroko answers, just as a joke.  Though Ogiwara and Kagami both seem to suffer mini heart attacks from that.

“Geeze, stop doing that though, seriously!” Kagami wheezes.  “One of these days I’ll get used to it but really, you’re like a ghost—“

“A ninja would be more appropriate wouldn’t it?”

“I guess.”

Kuroko nods his head, “A ninja would be exactly what you’re looking for.  That’s two to one, Kagami-kun.”  Kagami makes a face at that.  Kuroko smiles, bringing a hand up to hide a laugh that’s threatening to bubble up past his throat.  When he doesn’t hear Daiki’s laughter, however, he pauses to look at the tengu.  Things like this Daiki would be laughing at as well, saying that Kagami needed to realize when he’s losing.  Simple things like that.  Instead, Daiki is staring off in the distance.  His wings are tense, raised, and he’s eyes narrowed.  Kuroko is about to ask him what’s wrong; he’s cut off by Ogiwara.

“Come on, we were going to hit the courts but Kagami and I found this special and it’s like finish off three of this restaurants famous beef bowls and get like ten meals free!” Ogiwara is already grabbing for Kuroko’s hand.

Kuroko snaps out of his thoughts, “But that’s impossible for me.”

“Kagami will finish what you don’t eat, though this loser insists he can finish off three.”

“I _can_ ,” Kagami says.  “That’s nothing.”

“Dude, have you seen their portions how big is your stomach—no, wait, how big are your _eye balls_.”

Kuroko looks back to where Daiki is still standing.  He’s about to call out, but Daiki disappears with a powerful flap of his wings.  Black feathers are left behind.  Kuroko wonders if perhaps he had angered the tengu in some way, or if that he had stepped out of line helping that spirit.  “Come on, Kuroko, don’t fall behind!” Ogiwara urges.

“Sorry,” Kuroko tries to not let it bother him and focuses on keeping up.

Only to find himself trip on absolutely nothing.  He lets out a slightly startled noise, pitching forward, and is only stopped by Kagami gripping the back of his shirt and hoisting him up.  Kuroko blinks a couple of times, trying to register what happened.  Sure, he’s not the most graceful of people.  Sometimes he drops things and sometimes he trips and lands flat on his face, though usually that’s after afterschool practice when he can barely coordinate his own movements.  “You tired or something?” Kagami asks.  Even he and Ogiwara know this.

“Not really,” Kuroko answers.  “I just tripped over my own feet.”

He guesses.

Ogiwara rubs the back of his head sheepishly, “Was I going to fast?”

Kuroko opens his mouth, closes it, and then just nods his head in answer.  He had been about to say “no,” though it would only have brought up suspicion.  Perhaps your ill, Kuroko, would be one of the things said and Kuroko knows for a fact he’s not.  “It just happens sometimes,” he ends up saying.  “I apologize if I caused you trouble.”

“Wouldn’t it be the other way around?” Kagami has his arms crossed.

“Well, I mean, it does happen,” Ogiwara shrugs.  “And ya know, sometimes people trip even without being exhausted.”

They leave it at that and continue making their way to the restaurant.  Just, when they arrive Kuroko finds out that he’s dropped his wallet somewhere and has to back track to find it.  He had found it lying in the mud a few ways back from the restaurant.  When he returned to the restaurant he went to the bathroom to clean it, and upon returning and seating himself between Kagami and Ogiwara a glass of water had been spilled.  All into Kuroko’s lap.  “Woah, geeze, what’s with all this bad luck recently?” Ogiwara asks as he hands Kuroko a multitude of napkins he nabbed from the dispenser.  “Tripping is one thing but losing your wallet and then this?”

“Is it one of those days or something that OhaAsa mentions?” Kagami asks between nibbles of the appetizer he ordered.  “Like, I dunno, your stars are not in alignment or something.”

Kuroko snorts, “Hardly.”

His hands are already moving napkins to his lap to try and soak up the water.  It’s cold, uncomfortable, and he won’t have any time to—

Gaunt eyes stare up at him.

Kuroko yells, stumbling back out of his seat and almost slamming his head painfully in the table behind him.  Ogiwara and Kagami are standing up as well, reaching out to help him.  “What is it!?” Kagami sounds panicked.  “You okay?”

“I—“ Kuroko stares at the space underneath the bar they were sitting at.  He had seen them, he’s sure, those eyes.  Familiar eyes—

“ _Help me again, please…_ ”

He feels something curling around his ankle.  He’s afraid to look down.  So boldly, in public, around _humans_.  Someone in the kitchen yelled as a bottle fell and broke on the floor.  The lone waitress on the floor gasps as she spills something on to a table.  Ogiwara is almost slammed into some poor person’s table as the waitress hurries pass him to get something to clean up the mess. 

“ _Please_ …”

Kuroko chances looking down again.  The same spirit from before, hand in a vice grip around his leg.  It’s grinning at him, gums showing, lips curling up in a manic grin.  It’s eyes are wide, face just as sickly.  “ _Human you’re so nice, so please help me again_ ,” it rasps.  Not here, anywhere but here.  Kuroko tries to think of where the nearest shrine is so that he can flee.  The spirit seems to sense his thoughts, tightening its grip on him.  “ _If you don’t I’ll poison them_ ,” it whispers.  “ _Any food I touch, anything…I can…_ ”

Kuroko remembers Daiki’s caution.

“Then not here,” Kuroko whispers back furiously.  He looks at Kagami and Ogiwara, who are settling back down.

“Kuroko, you gonna sit back down?”

He shakes his head, “I’m not feeling too good…I’m sorry but I’ll need to head on home.”

Both give him worried looks.  “You’re paying next time!” Ogiwara shouts as Kuroko attempts to leave.  If he can leave.  The spirit stays latched on, and Kuroko moves through water more than air.  He stumbles out of the door, almost landing flat on his face.  He looks back down at the spirit, wondering how he hadn’t even sensed it coming.  And where is Daiki?  Absences like this were common, but never when Kuroko had been under what Daiki deemed a potential threat.  The spirit makes a brittle wheezing noise.

Kuroko looks around to see if there’s anyone else nearby, but the streets are mostly quiet save for a few people walking back from errands.  Still not a good place, really, and he sighs. “If you’ll let me walk properly then I can help you,” he waits for the spirit to let go.  It takes a bit, but it does, pulling back and standing up.  Its posture is horrible, hunched, and body too slim.  Is it perhaps still hungry?  Spirits and sustenance were always tricky substances.  Kuroko starts walking to find a more secluded area.  “If you want more food, I don’t have any,” he says.  “What I gave you was all I had…though it would have been pointless since we ended up going somewhere else to eat anyways.”

The spirit says nothing.

“…Are you always looking for help? Humans can’t see you.”

“Only I can—“

“ _You…are too kind,_ ” the spirit rasps.  “ _Like that…it is no wonder the tengu has abandoned you_.”

Kuroko stops walking.  He turns to stare at the spirit, eyes wide.  Abandoned?  Has Lord Daiki, in his anger, done that?  No, it can’t be, too presumptuous.  The tengu had fits of irrational rage but never to the point of going back on his promise.  Kuroko’s heart pounded in his chest.

“Is that what you think?” he asks, trying to keep his voice level and even.

The spirit takes stumbling steps forward, hands reaching out.  Kuroko steps back. “ _Not what I think, what I know_ ,” the spirit’s mouth is stretched in a manic grin.  “ _Kindness is a weakness, one that I…that I prey upon quite readily_.”

No wonder Lord Daiki had been irritated.

“So earlier, when you had fled—“

“ _The tengu.  Perhaps the last favor it owed before leaving you.”_

“You think so little of him.”

Kuroko had been steadily backing up with each word, mentally marking off where would be best to flee.  The spirit had done a total one eighty from the way it carried itself before, slowly rising off the ground.  Gaunt eyes were wider, grin stretched from ear to ear, and fingers twitching.

“ _No, I only expect what is part of its nature_ ,” a laugh.  “ _But now…you said you would help me.”_

“I did,” perhaps the spirit would ask for something else.

“ _Then, human, help me one last time by offering me your flesh and being!_ ”

Kuroko quickly dives to the side, missing the spirit’s lunge.  He feels the air whip past him, a chill that settles deep into his skin.  He shivers and forces himself up, running in the direction of the shrine.  A screech is heard behind him, the spirit giving chase.  Of course it would somehow end up like this—he had become too accustomed with Lord Daiki’s protection.

He never thought of the possibility of the tengu leaving him.  He had become too spoiled.

Kuroko looks behind him, just in time to duck as the spirit lashes out again.  Its hand ghosts over the top of his head.  He tries to run faster, lungs burning as he attempts to suck in as much air as he can.  He had never been the best runner and his stamina could only hold out for so long.

“ _Human, help me!_ ” the spirit says its earlier words in some gross mockery.  High pitched, hysterical, a haunting echo to it that rang in Kuroko’s ears.  “ _Help me, please!  Offer me your blood and your bone!_ ”

He’s almost to the steps, so close—

“Ah!”

He finds himself slamming into the ground, hands clamping down tight on his neck.  A cold weight rests itself on his back, pressing into him harder.  Kuroko tries to let out a pained yell yet he can’t.  It’s hard to breathe, he’s still short of breath, and his vision is swimming.  He thinks of Lord Daiki.

“ _Now…now…first, first your skin!  I will cut it off of your body, save it, use it to make fine leathers to wear, and the meat on your bones will be used as—“_

Kuroko musters up the last bits of his strength.  He struggles underneath the spirit’s grip so he can escape, lashes out.  It doesn’t work, and it just makes him weaker.  He stills.  If this is perhaps how he is to go, then he deserves it.  He had been too trusting despite warnings thrown at him.

He can hear the smile in that grating voice, “ _No more fight?  Good, good, though struggling more would make you taste better.  Now…_ ”

Kuroko’s cheek is pressed to the ground, and from his peripheral he can see the spirit’s mouth peel open to show a gaping jaw.  One hand raises up, blunt nails stretching out into claws.  Kuroko clenches his eyes shut.

He should face death with dignity.

He can’t.

He’s too afraid.

_Lord Daiki._

“Tetsu!”

A powerful burst of wind slams down on both of them.

A harsh scream rips its way out of the spirit.  Kuroko feels a weight lifted off of him and he struggles to breathe, hacking and coughing as his chest heaves.  He gets up to his knees, one hand coming up to rub at his neck.  “L-Lord Daiki,” he mumbles, getting to his feet shakily.  He turns, stumbles back and lands flat on his butt.

Daiki is there, wings spread wide, struggling with keeping the spirit at bay.  It’s spitting and hissing at him, claws coming out and scratching at the fine fabric of Daiki’s clothes, his skin, and his wings.  Anything the spirit could reach to try to make the tengu loosen his hold. 

Lord Daiki doesn’t let it struggle for long.  A vicious roar rumbles deep from his throat, and he quickly grapples the spirit into submission.  Both wings flap once, twice, three times in succession, powerful beats that send strong currents throughout the area.

Dust flies up and Kuroko squints, bringing his arm up to shield his face.

He hears the sound of bone crunching, a blood curdling howl, and silence.  Kuroko lowers his arm.  Daiki stands there, one hand gripping the spirit’s neck tight the other speared through its chest.  There is no blood.  Kuroko feels ill.  Daiki twists the hand inside the spirit, a squelching noise accompanying it. 

“Close your eyes, Tetsu.”

Kuroko can’t.

“This won’t be pretty.  This won’t be like the others.  I have to make sure it won’t come back.”

“I—“

“Close your eyes.”

He can’t.

Lord Daiki yanks his arm back hard.  Snapping noises are heard.  Kuroko watches in horrified fascination.  The spirit slumps in Daiki’s hand, eyes still blown wide, but it seems to fade away.  Wisps of what it used to be disappear, blown away in the softest breeze. 

Kuroko swallows.

“L-Lord Daiki,” he says, “you’ve returned.”

That seems to draw the tengu’s attention back to him.  A wing flicks in irritation and Daiki frowns.  He crosses his arms, “Well, yeah ‘m back.  What makes you think I wouldn’t be?”

“That spirit said…you left.”

Daiki looks a bit taken aback, “Leave?  After that promise I made to you?”  Kuroko doesn’t try to remind Daiki that technically he could leave whenever.  There really is nothing that keeps Daiki tied to Kuroko.  No obligations, no favors, nothing that Kuroko could hold over his head.

“Just,” Kuroko stands up.  “Never mind.  The real question is where were you when I was attacked?  You’re supposed to be my guardian—it seems I may need to find a replacement.”

“Ouch, Tetsu that’s low!” Daiki grins though.  “And it’s nothing to worry about.  I went to go check up on something, took longer than expected.”

Kuroko narrows his eyes.

“And what is it?”

“Nothing important, anyways, Tetsu, this is why you need to be more careful.  You’re lucky that was just some no name spirit.  Anything else and I might not have made it.”

“Lord Daiki—“

Daiki looks at Kuroko with a tired look for a brief second.  Enough to make Kuroko pause.  Lord Daiki had done something then, but what?  And he’s not too willing to answer, either.  Wisely, Kuroko decides to drop it.

“We should head home,” he says.  “I’m a bit tired, and a bath sounds nice.”

Especially after the ordeal he just went through.

Daiki nods.

“Sounds like a good plan.  Though you should run back, increase that stamina of you—oof!”

The tengu doubles over, clutching at his sides.  At least Kuroko’s still got it in him when it comes to jabbing people.  “I think that’s not the issue here,” he says.  Kuroko will ask Daiki about it later.  Where he went, the dreams, and why he looked so tired upon return.

For now, he’s just happy that Lord Daiki hadn’t abandoned him.


End file.
